40 Wild Beasts 



let him approach without giving the least indication of 

 anger, and as soon as he was close enough, trampled him 

 to death. This is the kind of anecdote which Professor 

 Robinson remarks is " infinitely discreditable to the 

 elephant " ; that fact, however, has nothing to do with 

 the truth. All those good qualities the creature possesses 

 can be done justice to without making any excursions into 

 sentimental zoology. Captain A. W. Drayson (" Sporting 

 Scenes in Southern Africa") asserts that "the elephant 

 stands very high among the class of wild animals." That 

 means nothing ; affords no help to those who are trying to 

 find out how high it stands. Sir Samuel Baker ("Wild 

 Beasts and their Ways ") gives his opinion more at length. 

 Of the animal's sagacity he observes that it is, according 

 to his ideas, "overrated. No elephant," he says, "that I 

 ever saw, would spontaneously interfere to save his mas- 

 ter from drowning or from attack. . . . An enemy might 

 assassinate you at the feet of your favorite elephant, but 

 he would never attempt to interfere in your defence ; he 

 would probably run away, -or, if not, remain impassive, un- 

 less especially ordered or guided by his mahout. This is 

 incontestible. ... It is impossible for an ordinary by- 

 stander to comprehend the secret signs which are mu- 

 tually understood by the elephant and his guide." Baker 

 holds, with others who have really studied elephants, that 

 when they evince any special sagacity, it is because they 

 act under direction, and that if left to themselves they 

 usually do the wrong thing. The species is naturally ner- 

 vous, and this disability is increased by those alterations 

 in its way of life that domestication involves. Captivity 



